The Major League Soccer 2009 Season is almost to an end and the major award, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) was named on Thursday, November 19, 2009. Landon Donovan of the Los Angeles Galaxy was named MVP as he had 12 goals, 5 assists, and helped lead his club to the MLS Cup Final. Jeff Cunningham and Shalrie Joseph were the other two finalists for the award.

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Landon Donovan was named the 2009 MLS MVP. (LA Galaxy)

The 2009 Major League Soccer MVP was announced today and the result isn't going to shock most of you as LA Galaxy star Landon Donovan takes home the award.

For the first time in his career, Donovan took home the league's highest honors by beating out New England's Shalrie Joseph and Dallas' Jeff Cunningham.

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Jeremy Christie (R) shields Joan Capdevila of Spain from the ball during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup match between New Zealand and Spain (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images Europe)
I had a chance to chat with New Zealand international midfielder Jeremy Christie, who was in town recently for a trial selection session organized by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) for the upcoming season, which is scheduled to kick-off next February. Click to continue reading...

Chivas USA's Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan, as well as former Goat Brad Guzan, were named to the 22-player U.S. squad today for games Saturday against Slovakia (10 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel and Galavision) and Denmark four days later (no TV by the sound of it).

From U.S. Soccer::

The U.

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World Cup hosts South Africa recalled controversial striker Benni McCarthy Thursday for mid-November home friendlies against Japan and Jamaica. The scorer of a record 31 Bafana Bafana (The Boys) goals was ignored for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa after shunning a call-up for warm-up games against Norway and . Click to continue reading...

CHICAGO (Oct. 13, 2009)

US Opponent Denmark Finished First Place in Group 1 in UEFA Qualifying Ahead of Portugal and Sweden

– The United States Men's National Team will face fellow 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers Denmark on Wednesday, Nov. 18, in Aarhus, Denmark.

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CHICAGO (Oct. 13, 2009)

US Opponent Denmark Finished First Place in Group 1 in UEFA Qualifying Ahead of Portugal and Sweden

– The United States Men's National Team will face fellow 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers Denmark on Wednesday, Nov. 18, in Aarhus, Denmark.

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Following leaks of the Puma Italy and adidas Germany FIFA World Cup 2010 kits, a leak of the Spain adidas World Cup kit has emerged in the Spanish media. Spanish website as.com has published a somewhat detailed description of the kit along with a small picture of it. Apparently, the shirt reverts to the bright red of [. Click to continue reading...

Photographs of what looks like Italy's new home and away football shirts for the 2010 World Cup have been leaked.

Designed and manufactured by Puma, Italian football fans will hope their nation will be wearing these shirts if and when Italy qualifies for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa next summer.

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Fabio Capello has always been consistent with his selections, and in four of England's last five matches, it has been Manchester United's Wayne Rooney and Aston Villa's Emile Heskey who have been England's starting marksman and both can be considered as shoe-ins for England World Cup squad.

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Labor Day has come and gone, the sun is setting earlier, and, even here in Houston, the air contains a slight fall crispness. Yes, the Summer of Soccer is over, and what an interesting summer it has been. Back on Father's Day, like a Phoenix, the US National Team rose from the ashes of its first two group stage matches in the Confederations Cup to advance to the semifinals where it shocked the football world by easily beating Spain, which was ranked by FIFA as the top national team at the time.

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The San Jose Earthquakes announced today that forward Cornell Glen and midfielder Simon Elliott were called up for national team duty. Glen is on Trinidad and Tobago's roster for two important World Cup qualifiers, while Elliott will play for New Zealand in a friendly against Jordan. Click to continue reading...

CHICAGO (Aug. 27, 2009) — U.S. Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley has named a roster of 24 players that will train in advance of the critical FIFA World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago. The U.S. first hosts El Salvador on Sept. 5 in Sandy, Utah (tickets). Kickoff at Rio Tinto Stadium is set for 6 p. Click to continue reading...

For those who study tactics, it was interesting to see how Brazil morphed it's team in the FIFA Confederations Cup into a system that best utilized their players. As Jonathan Wilson reports, where they describe themselves in a midfield diamond, it more resembles a 4-2-3-1.
At this Confederations Cup, most European observers have happily jotted down their formation as 4-2-3-1, with Luís Fabiano as the centre-forward, Robinho to the left, Kaká as the central creator and Ramires on the right of the attacking three. Click to continue reading...

How would someone characterize US Soccer's Summer of 2009? The extreme optimist would say that the US made a non-CONCACAF tournament major final for the 1st time by ending Spain's world record streak, then with a "B" side made it to the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The extreme pessimist would say that the United States squad blew a massive opportunity to establish themselves as a major world footballing nation with their collapse in the 2nd half Confederations Cup final.

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FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifiers
Mexico v USA Azteca Stadium, Mexico City
The real revelation of world soccer this year has to be the USA, who shocked everyone by downing the world's top-ranked nation Spain 2-0 at the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, before leading Brazil by the same score in the final, eventually losing 3-2. Click to continue reading...

Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup returns for the U.S. Men's National Team, with their sixth of 10 qualifying matches for South Africa on Wednesday, Aug. 12, against Mexico. The match, which will be broadcast live on mun2 and Telemundo, kicks off at 3 p.m. CT from the famed Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

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Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup returns for the U.S. Men's National Team, with their sixth of 10 qualifying matches for South Africa on Wednesday, Aug. 12, against Mexico. The match, which will be broadcast live on mun2 and Telemundo, kicks off at 3 p.m. CT from the famed Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

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How would someone characterize US Soccer's Summer of 2009? The extreme optimist would say that the US made a non-CONCACAF tournament major final for the 1st time by ending Spain's world record streak, then with a "B" side made it to the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The extreme pessimist would say that the United States squad blew a massive opportunity to establish themselves as a major world footballing nation with their collapse in the 2nd half Confederations Cup final. Click to continue reading...

US goalkeeper Tim Howard stood the test against Spain and Brazil in this summer's FIFA Confederations Cup. Now, he is preparing to accept one of the toughest assignments in all of world football: Mexico at their Estadio Azteca. FIFA.com interviewed the US #1, who was recently voted top keeper at the FIFA Confederations Cup. Click to continue reading...

By any standards, the Summer of 2009 will go down as one of the most memorable seasons in American Soccer history. Between the US Men's National Team's improbable run to the Confederations' Cup Final, the release of Grant Wahl's The Beckham Experiment" and the re-entry of David Beckham to the LA Galaxy, The Gold Cup, and the massive crowds that have attended top-notch Euro club friendlies, there was more buzz, more visibilty, and more soccer in America in the last few months than any other time is recent memory. Click to continue reading...

Bob Bradley has named his squad for the crucial World Cup Qualifier against Mexico this week, in a game that is being dubbed the most important game in U.S. soccer history.

The U.S. has never won in Mexico and the U.S. team will have to overcome the grueling combination of altitude, smog and more than 100,000 hostile fans if they are going to pull off a famous victory.

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U.S. Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley has named a roster of 20 players that will train in advance of the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Mexico that will take place Aug. 12 in Mexico City. The U.S. seeks its first-ever victory on Mexican soil, with kickoff set for 3 p.m. CT at Estadio Azteca, famed for its grueling combination of altitude, smog and more than 100,000 spectators.

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U.S. Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley has named a roster of 20 players that will train in advance of the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Mexico that will take place Aug. 12 in Mexico City. The U.S. seeks its first-ever victory on Mexican soil, with kickoff set for 3 p.m. CT at Estadio Azteca, famed for its grueling combination of altitude, smog and more than 100,000 spectators.

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U.S. men's national team coach Bob Bradley has named Colorado Rapids forward Conor Casey to his 20-man roster that will train in advance of the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Mexico next Wednesday in Mexico City.

Casey has 14 career caps with the national team and appeared in four games for the U.

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Jozy Altidore seems to be handling this Twitter thing a little better than Darren Bent.

While Bent tossed his toys out of the pram in 140 characters or less, the teenage American striker calmly tweeted to his followers:

England early in the morning so im going to get some sleep ill tweet all day tomorrow on my bb and let you guys know whats going on!

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As you surely have read by now, FIFA President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter paid a visit to the United States, first stopping by the New Meadowlands Blatter, CONCACAF President Jack Warner and FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke took a tour of the new 82,500-seat stadium, which will open in May 2010 and serve as one of the jewel venues proposed in the U. Click to continue reading...

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Now that the CONCACAF Gold Cup and FIFA Confederations Cup are behind us, we can start taking stock of the U.

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Bob Bradley and the US National Team staff has taken us on a magical run this summer, from the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa to the CONCACAF Gold Cup here in the United States.
This ride culminates tomorrow in the Gold Cup Final, which will pit the US against regional rival Mexico at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Click to continue reading...

The call has been put out. The FIFA World Cup 2010 needs volunteers! Are you up for the challenge? If you can speak excellent English and one additional language, you can answer the call to action. Here's an overview of the open call courtesy of Chad Thomas at African Soccer Renaissance. Make sure you check out his international radio show on SABC 2000. Click to continue reading...

The 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal in Miami featured a rematch of a Confederations Cup group game from a month earlier. Brazil and the United States had varying approaches to this tournament: The USA wanted to win the event and again qualify for the Confederations Cup while Brazil was bloodletting a promising group of youngsters who have since become household names.

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Join Minnesota supporters of the Men's National team, along with readers of Inside Minnesota Soccer.com, for a U.S. National Team watch party.

The US National team plays Honduras on Thursday, July 23, at 6 p.

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Join Minnesota supporters of the Men's National team, along with readers of Inside Minnesota Soccer.com, for a U.S. National Team watch party.

The US National team plays Honduras on Thursday, July 23, at 6 p.

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The inaugural World Football Challenge begins tomorrow on American soil, in the Bay Area.� Much like the "World Series of Football" in 2005, this event conflicts directly with our region's Continental Championship which also is contested on American soil. But unlike that tournament which was promoted by SUM and involved MLS teams, this event shuts out the American club game as if it does not exist.

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For their victory against world No. 1 ranked Spain in the semifinals of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, the United States Men's National Team was awarded the 2009 ESPY for "Best Upset" at the 17th annual awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Calif. The show will be televised on ESPN and ESPN HD on Sunday, July 19 starting at 9 p. Click to continue reading...